Photo by Nathan Taare
You won’t find much online about Skux. The New York/New Zealand punks have only been together since late April, so their online presence currently consists of the following: one Instagram post declaring, “We practiced 6 hours, made 6 songs, and played a show in 3 days of band birth,” and one phone-shot YouTube video of a band howling through The Vines’s “Get Free.”
Videos by VICE
The band is the combined songwriting might of Ayisha Jaffer and The Death Set’s Dan Walker, though it’s Jaffer who’s behind the mic, gathering the band together, and channeling everything through her throat. On The Two Sides of She, the band’s debut release, a double A-side premiering on Noisey today a day before its full release, there’s plenty to suggest the collaboration is more than worthwhile.
It’s a strong debut, not least because of the versatility the band have displayed in around seven minutes. “On Her Way” is a poppy, sweet track all full of throaty callback vocals while “More Than 10 Things,” on the other side, is a scuzzy Riot Grrrl track, Jaffer’s voice never far from a yelp.
In an email to Noisey this morning, Jaffer explained the thinking behind the release:
“I wanted to make something that portrayed my states of purgatory that others can relate to I’m sure and use my roots that lie in straight punk and are inspired by the riot grrrl movement a bit growing up. Writing with Dan Walker of The Death Set, a group that I think is some of the most raw punk out there, was the perfect fit in creating this project. Off of The Two Sides of She, ‘More Than 10 Things’ is based on the classic 10 Things I Hate About You, a favorite of mine. I actually wrote the verses as a love poem to a guy I was dating. The relationship obviously didn’t end well (he dumped me a day before tour) and therefore the chorus of ‘More Than 10 Things’ interprets the poem in a totally different way. ‘On Her Way’ was more for me and those nomads who are similiar. It talks about the traveling woman in work and adventure, always pleasing, never stopping, never settling-she just keeps on keeping on. Both tracks are very different but let’s be real…sides, both are you, her, me, she.”
Check out The Two Sides of She below and keep an eye out for more activity from the band in the coming months.
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